Mallory Rizor

Page 1.
Poverty and Educational Reform
SerVaas, J. (2011). Poverty and Educational Reform. Saturday Evening
Post, 283(5), 4.
Introductory paragraph:
This article talks about the link between poverty and education
and the affect of poverty on the failing school systems. In the
beginning, it questions whether poverty lowers education or education
lowers poverty, and then it answers this question throughout the
article. Its main focus was the fact that having a supportive family
makes all the difference in childrens lives when it comes to education
and learning. It is vital for a child to have family members that help
teach them vital concepts before entering school, and sadly, this is
very hard when a family lives in poverty. It also talks about how the
socioeconomic differences are badly affecting schools and these
problems need to be corrected by government, schools and people in
general. A quality education can make a huge difference in childrens
lives and give them the chance to rise above poverty.

Mallory Rizor

Page 2.
Poverty, Not Education is Crisis in USA
Thomas, O. (2013). Poverty, Not Education is Crisis in USA. USA Today, 8.
Introductory Paragraph:
This article is very interesting and talks about how poverty directly affects
educational performance. It compares the intelligence of American students and how they
did on tests with that of students of other countries, like Finland. It points out that
problem isnt our smartness, but poverty. Finland has very low poverty, and as a result,
high test scores. It also talks about how the schools in the United States that provide
quality education, actually surpass the other countries in intelligence and scores. It also
reveals the fact that poverty is the number one indicator of whether a child will complete
school. Finally, it touches on the fact that it is necessary and vital for us to improve the
poverty levels and access to quality education across the United States. We can help out
children around the world if only we work to end poverty.

Mallory Rizor

Page 3.
Education and Poverty: Confronting the Evidence
Ladd, H.F. (2012), Education and Poverty: Confronting the Evidence. Journal of Policy
Analysis & Management, 31(2), 203-227.
Introductory Paragraph:
This article begins by disproving the idea that the United States has fallen behind
on test scores because of the flaws in the education system. It instead talks about how
poverty has played a huge role in the gap between education and test scores. It shows
many sets of data that reveal the correlation between poverty and wealth and success in
schools. It suggests that it is not only poverty that is playing a role in poor education and
performance, but also the family background affects that are a result of poverty. These
include: hunger, body weight, parental guidance, etc. It proposes that the way to increase
educational performance is to reduce poverty. If parents have more employment
opportunities and money assistance, theyll have more time and resources for their
children. The article suggests that these resources will make the difference in educational
performance and provide students with a more sturdy foundation that will help them
excel in school. It also questions why people deny the correlations between education
poverty and wonders how we can change this mindset.

Mallory Rizor

Page 4.
Summary
The theme of my articles was poverty and its affects on education. This is an
extremely critical issue seen in the United States and classrooms today. As said in the
Poverty and Educational Reform article, almost 20% of children in the United States are
raised in poverty, so it is a vital concept when discussing the failing school system.
Many people today believe that the low-test scores are a reflection on the school systems
that exist in the United States. In actuality, the main cause is poverty. This goes beyond
school funding, and directly affects students. In the article, Poverty Not Education, is
Crisis in USA, it touched on the difference in test scores between other countries and the
United States. When put in comparison, Finlands scores were much higher than the U.S.,
but their poverty percentages are also different. In comparison to our 20%, they have a
low amount of five percent of children that live in poverty. But, when impoverished
schools were taken out of the equation, the United States far exceeded Finland and other
countries in test scores. This reveals that poverty is one of the roots of the problems. So,
its a simple solution that if we fix poverty and begin to input programs to combat it in
schools, our school systems will be greatly improved.
Whether you agree or disagree with poverty affecting opportunities for children, it
still affects their education in many ways. In the article, Education and Poverty, it states
that are family background differences caused by poverty that can affect a childs
academic performance. Whether it be their home environments and their lack of richness
and opportunities to learn, poor health, limited access to high quality preschool

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opportunities etc., all of these play a huge role in how a student comes to school and is
able to perform. This issue is increasingly important in the classroom because of how
many children are affected. Due to high immigration, and increased poverty rates, there
are more and more students who face the difficulties and strains caused by poverty.
Teachers need to be aware of these problems so that they can fully attend to all students
to the best of their abilities and fully help them in improving their educational
performance. Many lower quality schools excel in academics and break the trend
between education and poverty, but this is because the schools go above and beyond to
help the students along and guide them so that they can excel. Whether it be providing
free school lunches, teachers working one on one with students and putting the extra time
and effort into helping them, or even providing after school help sessions, schools can
improve the educational process of children exponentially.
In the first article, it talked about how much of a difference education can make in
the lives of children and their futures. Having an education can help children succeed
later in life, achieve greater things, and even escape poverty. In the beginning of this
article, the author questions whether poverty lowers education or education lowers
poverty, and the answer is both. If teachers and staff arent careful, the poverty that
students face can affect their education. It can cause them to drop out, do poorly in
school, and turn to crime, unemployment, drugs, and other bad alternatives (SerVaas
2011). Poverty is a setback that must be combatted in school. But, this can only be done
through higher education. Education can break the cycle of poverty, but thats only if
schools take the initiative and put in the work to improve that. Although funding plays a
big role in many of the opportunities schools can offer students, so can teachers. If a

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teacher walks into a classroom with a positive attitude and an understanding of the
different socioeconomic levels that may exist in their classroom, they can greatly improve
the lives of their students. By putting in the time and effort necessary to help these
students, teachers will be able to make a huge difference in their lives.

Mallory Rizor